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I pressed my hands together to keep them from shaking. “Lawrence, please, listen to me. You’re not thinking straight right now.”
Lawrence laughed again and it sounded sharp, like breaking glass. “Wrong. Blood brings clarity, and I’ve drank my fill today for the first time in my new life. Why have I resisted for so long?”
I was wrong. He couldn’t be reasoned with. I had no idea how many people he’d killed in the basement after he’d dealt with Dr. Reynolds. A lot. Enough to change him from a conflicted research assistant to a single-minded mass murderer. There was no coming back from that. At a glance, it didn’t seem as if he wanted to.
I locked gazes with Declan, but I couldn’t read his expression past his black eye patch. Mine, however, must have been clear. I was scared to death, but I wasn’t ready to give up yet.
“Lawrence,” I began. “Dr. Reynolds was wrong in what he did, but you need to think about—”
“Shut the fuck up.” He took a step toward me, and Declan pushed me farther back.
“Don’t come any closer,” Declan snapped.
Lawrence’s brows drew together, and his head cocked to the side. “You care what happens to her, don’t you?”
Declan’s expression was dark. “Yes.”
“She’s poison to my kind.”
“Jill can’t be blamed for what’s in her blood. It wasn’t her decision.”
“Doesn’t change anything. Blood is something that should never be tainted—it’s a sacred communion. I’ve tasted blood today, felt it hot in my mouth while a heart ceased to beat beneath my touch. I’ve never felt anything so amazing in my life. It was primal. Incredible.”
Declan’s expression didn’t change, although I’m sure mine paled, as did Laura’s. She trembled next to me, her arms crossed over her chest.
“How many have you killed?” Declan asked. “Guards? Researchers?”
The eerie, wistful smiled returned. “All of them, I think. I lost count.”
“What about Jackson?”
“You care about his life. How interesting. Do you know he’s the reason behind all of this?”
He wasn’t making any sense to me, not that I was surprised about that.
Declan’s fists tightened at his sides. “What?”
“Jackson knew what happened to Victor’s wife and who was responsible. He offered to bring you in. Kill two birds with one stone. Victor wanted you dead. It was all he could do to not kill you the moment he first saw you yesterday.”
Declan’s stony expression shifted a little to something more raw. “Jackson sold me out. Sold us out.”
Lawrence nodded, his smile growing wider. “Don’t trust friends with huge gambling debts. One of many lessons for the day.”
The vampire hunter hadn’t made a great first impression on me, even less when he hit on me yesterday, but I’d been convinced he was trustworthy. Declan had assured me of that and I’d believed him. He’d been wrong. Jackson knowingly brought him here to be killed or tortured—with my blood.
The thought made me see red. I wanted to tear Jackson apart with my bare hands for betraying Declan.
Declan was a bit more reserved than I was. “How
do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“You don’t. And you won’t ever know for sure. He’s dead—four vampires were gnawing on his bones last time I saw. I would have joined in, but I was already full.”
“Lawrence,” I managed to say through clenched teeth, my anger helping to push away a bit of my fear. “Enough of this. You need to—”
Lawrence stormed toward me so fast I barely saw it. When Declan blocked me, the vampire instead grabbed hold of Laura. She screamed.
“Let her go,” Declan snapped.
